Seller not finding a place to rent before 30th June

ojphousehunter

Hi there,
My husband and I are rather in a predicament. We were ready to exchange and complete on the house we love in May, and both parties are chain free, however we are still waiting for the seller to find a place to rent. You would think that it would be a rather straight forward house purchase, both being chain-free, but it is a rather complicated situation his side. He is divorcing his wife, with the wife's sister also acting as her power of attorney, as the wife is in care. We believe they are needing to sell the house to release the equity in order to pay for her care/divide assets, etc. What makes it frustrating is that he is being very particular about where and what he wants to rent. Most reasonable people wouldn't want to lose their buyers and would just rent somewhere temporarily, until something better comes onto the market. He however doesn't seem to be bothered. He only wants to rent somewhere in the same village/small town, and only somewhere on the ground floor. He is older and cannot always manage stairs. That I appreciate, but he is being extremely selfish by only wanting to live in the same location, where there aren't many properties to rent at the best of times. Only one ground floor flat came up for rent recently and that was snapped up straight away. I'm not very hopeful another one will become available in the next week or so. 

We have already issued a deadline via our solicitors and estate agent, and have also said that if the deadline isn't met then we will be seeking compensation for the £8000 stamp duty that will come into effect after the 30th June. He doesn't seem to be fazed/hasn't really acknowledged it. We don't want to lose the house, but on the other hand we don't want to be paying out £8000 just because he's being picky, when we could have completed long ago. The estate agent suggested perhaps completing before the 30th June, and just renting the house to him until he finds a place, but that could get VERY messy. Besides, our mortgage offer does not allow that - it states that we will be living in the house, not renting it out.

I've contemplated where to go from here, as time is now running out. Do I go down the aggressive route and demand the purchase price is dropped by £8k? Otherwise I was thinking of writing him a kindly letter to try and appeal to his better nature (if there is any). He by all accounts can be a rather rude man. The estate agents call him "a character", which basically means he's an a-hole. It's a rather bitter situation. Does anyone have any other suggestions?
Thanks

pinkteapot

ojphousehunter said:

We have already issued a deadline via our solicitors and estate agent, and have also said that if the deadline isn't met then we will be seeking compensation for the £8000 stamp duty that will come into effect after the 30th June. 

You won't get any compensation. Until contracts are exchanged, he has no legal obligation to sell to you. 

Cakeguts

My suggestion would be to give up trying to buy this house as it is possible that he doesn't really want to sell it. You can then find one that is £8000 cheaper which would put you in the same position of cost as this one.

moneysavinghero

He doesn't want to move. He is only selling because of the divorce. He probably hopes you pull out.

You say his is selfish. He probably thinks you are selfish expecting him to move into any old house just so you can save £8k.

I would start looking at other properties if i was you. You could still be here in 2022 waiting for him to find somewhere.

Shaztastic3000

Don’t be harsh in the guy - be patient and pay the stamp duty, or just pull out 

HampshireH

If you haven't exchanged how do you intend to seek £8k in compensation?

ojphousehunter

pinkteapot said:

ojphousehunter said:

We have already issued a deadline via our solicitors and estate agent, and have also said that if the deadline isn't met then we will be seeking compensation for the £8000 stamp duty that will come into effect after the 30th June. 

You won't get any compensation. Until contracts are exchanged, he has no legal obligation to sell to you. 

I am aware that until we exchange there is no legal obligation. By compensation, I mean dropping the purchase price by £8k. Am I being unreasonable? It isn't fair that we should be financially penalised when we could have completed weeks ago.

Thanks

gingercordial

ojphousehunter said:

pinkteapot said:

ojphousehunter said:

We have already issued a deadline via our solicitors and estate agent, and have also said that if the deadline isn't met then we will be seeking compensation for the £8000 stamp duty that will come into effect after the 30th June. 

You won't get any compensation. Until contracts are exchanged, he has no legal obligation to sell to you. 

I am aware that until we exchange there is no legal obligation. By compensation, I mean dropping the purchase price by £8k. Am I being unreasonable? It isn't fair that we should be financially penalised when we could have completed weeks ago.

Thanks

You can ask him to drop the price by £8k at any time before exchange for any reason, that is your right whether or not it is "unreasonable".  He can say yes or no.

If he says no, you can either buy this house (costing you £8k more) or you can pull out and buy a different house.  Can you find something you like as much for the same cost including whatever the stamp duty will be on that one after June?

"Fair" doesn't really come into it unfortunately.  You are under no obligation to each other. 

wilfred30

You can of course lower your offer by £8k to cover the potential stamp duty but, if he doesn't accept it, are you going to pull out?

pinkshoes

It's his home and he is being forced to sell, so its not surprising that he doesnt want to go and rent any old property.

Put it in writing that he needs to exchange by X date and complete by stamp duty deadline otherwise your offer will drop by £8k to be able to afford the increase in stamp duty.

Can you afford it with the extra stamp duty e.g. do you have the extra £8k cash? Can you borrow more?

ojphousehunter

wilfred30 said:

You can of course lower your offer by £8k to cover the potential stamp duty but, if he doesn't accept it, are you going to pull out?

No, we don't want to pull out as we love this house. I think it looks like we're just going to have to swallow it, as we don't have much leverage. Threatening to pull out will be an empty threat, and he'll probably call our bluff.

Would it be worth trying to write him a letter, or will that be a waste of time/risk backfiring? I probably already know the answer.